


Man of Common Sense

by aurilly



Category: Lost
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-01
Updated: 2009-03-01
Packaged: 2017-10-03 00:39:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurilly/pseuds/aurilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why we never saw Sayid pushing the button. Takes place between 2.3 and 2.4</p>
            </blockquote>





	Man of Common Sense

For one everlasting moment, nothing happened. Nothing at all. Then, the numbers on the clock began flipping wildly, like letters on a train station departure board, and finally settled at 108:00, just like Desmond had said.

Nothing had happened, and yet nothing would be the same.

The button had been pressed, and the potential crisis averted, but tension remained in the slightly dank hatch air. Hurley was still worked up about whatever was bothering him. Jack and Locke exchanged, respectively, hateful and triumphant stares. Now that his project had been completed, Sayid began looking suspiciously and uneasily around him, just as he had when they first walked in. Kate alone remained dispassionate.

"Well," Locke said, finally breaking the silence. He began hesitantly, but quickly regained his usual self-assurance. He spoke like a man who had formulated this plan weeks ago, instead of two seconds ago. "We'll work in shifts, six hours long. I'll need to recruit people, but there are enough of us for this to go smoothly, and without much burden on any one person. Jack, can I count on you to take a shift?"

After what had just transpired, this was the most important question. Kate and Sayid both bristled, unwilling to see a continuation of the ugly argument that had just ended.

"Sure, whatever, John," Jack replied dismissively, holding his head the way he always did when something was going on that he didn't like or didn't want to deal with. It was obvious that he had only said yes to pacify Locke and to retain a leadership position in this new base of the camp's operations, not because he'd been swayed into believing it was a worthwhile activity. Locke had to know this, but his face still shone with victory, because, for whatever reason, Jack had agreed.

"And you, Kate?" Locke asked next.

"Yeah, I'm in. Of course," Kate said with unthinking enthusiasm.

"Hugo?"

"It's not like I have a choice," Hurley grumbled.

Locke looked concerned. "Of course you do. No one's forcing you to do anything."

At this, Hurley exploded. "No, you don't get it. The more I run, the more they'll follow me. The numbers. None of you will listen to me, but those numbers are cursed." He sighed defeatedly before reluctantly mumbling, "Yeah, I'll take a shift."

The rest of them shifted uncomfortably, unsure of how to react. Jack rolled his eyes, but Kate had no idea what was going on. Locke alone remained unphased.

"Thank you, Hugo. How about you, Sayid?" Locke asked.

"I'll pass," was the strident answer.

Locke tilted his head and focused that placid but piercing gaze on Sayid. "That's fine," he said, with slow understanding---of what, Kate didn't know.

By now, Jack had recovered from his recent moment of stress and was once again confident and purposeful. "We should check this place out, and see what can be of use back at camp. We'll round up any useful supplies, any food."

"Dudes, have you seen the pantry?" Hurley sounded eager to move onto a new topic and itchy to leave the computer room. Jack shook his head no.

"I haven't, either," Locke said. "Lead the way."

As the three men moved to leave the room, Sayid called out, "I'm going to look into the inner workings of this place and try to discover what it all means."

"Great idea, Sayid," Jack turned to say as he walked out.

Before disappearing around the corner, Locke added, "You're up first, Kate. You should watch the instruction video before the next timer. It's all set up in the living room over there."

Kate was about to follow them to the pantry, but stopped. She'd already seen the pantry. Hell, she'd seen more of this place than they probably ever would. Plus, she was in the mood to stay with Sayid. She stood awkwardly for a moment, watching as he sat in the chair, systematically looked at every piece of the terminal, and then sat cross-legged on the floor to inspect the wires that came out the back. Finally, he looked up at her.

"Is there something you want, Kate?" he asked, but the twinkle behind his eyes belied the possible stern interpretation of his words. Something about the way he said it made Kate want to smile and give him a hug. She often did the former, but almost never the latter. There was something about Sayid that discouraged random hugs, despite the fact that he always seemed to be in silent, almost unknowing, need of one, whether he knew it or not.

"Just wanted to help," she said. "What can I do?"

Despite the twinkle, Sayid remained mostly business. "Can you follow these cords and see how they connect to these larger machines around the room?"

Kate did as she was asked, but soon noticed Sayid looking over his shoulder at her. "Thank you for staying," he said. "It's a great boon having someone with some knowledge of electronics."

"Not really knowledge. Just more than Hurley," Kate replied with a shrug.

"There are five of these machines. I wonder if each one is linked to one of the numbers of the code."

"It looks like the computer feeds into all five, so maybe," she observed.

"And they all go into the floor," he continued. "There must be a place underneath this room where they all meet."

"I'll look around for a way to get to the basement, if there is one," Kate offered.

They worked in silence for a few minutes.

"I saw you leave last night to follow Locke," Sayid commented.

The question was implicit, but Kate resisted answering. She hadn't slept and was feeling difficult. So, she challenged, "You didn't follow me."

Her question was implicit, too.

"You were with Locke. I knew you would be safe."

Kate hadn't known what answer she expected, but somehow the one she got didn't seem like enough.

"I ended up grabbed and with a shotgun to my head," she complained. "Then he tied me up and let Desmond lock me in the pantry. I wouldn't call that safe."

"His methods are unorthodox, but---" Sayid began to counter.

"But he did give me a knife to cut myself out," Kate interrupted to concede. Much as she complained, she knew, as Sayid was about to say, that Locke did seem to know what he was doing, most of the time, at least.

Sayid's words mirrored Kate's thoughts. "Exactly. Not only are you perfectly capable of taking care of yourself, but I know Locke would never willingly let anything happen to you. Also, I knew Jack would go after you, whether you needed him to or not." Sayid grimaced, and Kate felt uncomfortable. They pointedly never spoke about whatever it was that she and Jack had---Kate never quite knew herself. But then again, he pointedly never spoke about Shannon, either. Whenever she tried to tease him or bring it up, Sayid shut down and never took the bait, even though she'd seen him humor Locke and Michael and even Jin when they did the same thing.

Collecting himself, he continued, "With the three of you gone again, I knew I would be left in charge of the camp again. I couldn't leave."

He was right, she knew, but part of her still wished he'd come. Kate had a feeling that with Sayid around, she wouldn't have ended up crawling around ducts. If anyone could have calmed Desmond down enough to make him stay a little longer and tell them more, it was Sayid.

Kate realized that she'd never answered his silent question. "I didn't want Locke to have to do this alone," she replied, not defensively, but still tetchily.

"Is that really the reason?" he pressed, not believing her.

No, that wasn't it at all. Lies. She took a deep breath and tried again, starting where it actually began. "Yesterday, on the way back from the Black Rock, we saw the monster."

"What?" Sayid dropped the tool he was holding and walked over to Kate, grasping her strongly by the shoulders. "You actually saw it?"

Kate looked up at him, and for the first time, verbalized the thing that had changed her outlook on everything. "It was smoke, Sayid. Black smoke that moved like it was alive and knew what it was doing. It tried to drag Locke into a hole that it made or lived in or I don't know."

"Smoke?" His reaction was everything she had anticipated. What reaction could one have, other than stupefaction?

She nodded and began babbling. "Smoke. That's weirder than an actual monster, right? I mean, if it had turned out to be a dinosaur like some people think it is, I think that would have been easier... But it was smoke. So I guess… And then I saw this hole, and the way it was grabbing Locke, and I saw that Locke wasn't scared of it. He said he didn't think it wanted to hurt him. I know it sounds crazy, but I think I believed him. Jack didn't, so I listened to him and threw dynamite down the hole but… I don't know. Locke wasn't scared of the hatch, either, so neither was I. Have you ever read Alice in Wonderland?"

"Yes, I have. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when we opened the hatch, the first thing I thought of was the rabbit hole. I guess… ok, this is going to sound crazy, but… This island is crazy, Sayid. You know that. No one except Locke ever wants to talk about it, but we all know it. I think a part of me thought that if I went down the hole, I could run away like Alice and find myself somewhere else."

"And so you did," Sayid replied after thinking for a minute and finally letting go of her. "Here we are, in a place with computers, a kitchen, and apparently a home theatre. It's far cry from our recent existence."

"There's also a record player. And chocolate," Kate added, finally breaking the tension that her reveal about the monster had brought between them.

That perked Sayid up---no one who'd been living on fruit, boar, and fish would be anything less than thrilled to hear that. Kate remembered having stuck some bars in her back pocket. She reached in and pulled out two, handing one to Sayid, who unwrapped it sensuously. He took his first bite and Kate giggled at the look of ecstasy that took over his features (and which she knew she shared) as he rolled his first bite on his tongue. Between bites he moaned, "It may not be Wonderland, but you can hardly be too disappointed in what you found down here."

Kate laughed. "No, not really. Not realistically. Plus…" Kate looked around her again in wonder. "It's interesting. And now we have something to do. You know, I don't think I've ever had a job before. Not a real one that mattered. Now I'm helping to save the world… maybe."

"You have never had a job, and Locke has never been in management. I'm very happy for you both," Sayid joked, taking another bite.

"All our hopes and dreams, wrapped up in a button," Kate continued in mock elation, but then became serious again. "Also, I have a feeling this place will be important."

"And you want to have a foothold in the center of the action?" he asked knowingly.

"Always." They smiled, and got back to work.

As she tried to make sense of the dizzying pattern of colored lights, something nagged at Kate. Without turning around, she asked, "So you don't think I'm an idiot for agreeing to shift duty?"

"Of course not."

That response helped Kate finally work up the courage to ask the question that had been burning her tongue. "So, you still haven't told me why you won't push it."

Sayid took a moment before responding, carefully. "I didn't want to open this hatch in the first place. And now I refuse to sign up for tasks in it until I know more. Much more. Such as, what this computer is connected to. Where is the power source? How was this place constructed, and by whom? I cannot contemplate asking myself if tending to this computer is worthwhile until I've at least attempted to answer these underlying questions."

"So you don't believe something horrible will happen if we don't?" she pushed.

"I don't think we know enough to ask that question," he reiterated.

But Kate still couldn't let it go. "But you fixed the computer without knowing what it was for, or even why it needed to be fixed. Isn't that the same thing as entering the code without knowing for sure if something will happen if we don't?" Kate was proud of herself for having fought as philosophical battle as Locke would have, for having stumped Sayid, who was now staring at her with a serious expression.

"I fixed it because you asked me to, Kate," Sayid replied slowly, and leveled his thoughtful gaze at her. "You came to me and asked for my help with a problem. So I helped you. That is hardly the same thing."

Kate wasn't sure how much of what he was saying had to do with her in particular or with the way Sayid was in general. She hoped it was a little of both. She wanted to say she'd have done the same, but that would mean assuming it was about her, and she didn't want to take the chance of looking like an ass if that wasn't the case. So, changing the subject, she argued, "But still, you're the one who made all this possible. If you hadn't fixed it, there probably wouldn't even be any shifts. We'd know by now whether or not we need to push it at all."

"For better or worse," he replied, grimly.

"So you do think something would happen." Kate didn't know why it was so important for her to pry an opinion out of him. Perhaps it was because her own reasons had nothing to do with ideology. Kate knew her reasons were selfish. She'd simply wanted something to do, wanted to maintain her seat in the action club, wanted to be accommodating. Kate realized that she was looking to Sayid to provide her with a more reasoned stance on the matter than either Jack or Locke, with their extremes, could. But he wasn't biting.

"I don't know. What I do know is that this button, this code, this whole computer room, is a treatment for something. Without understanding what we are preventing, how can we determine if we should prevent it? I cannot understand how that man lived like this, not knowing," Sayid finished in frustration.

Kate shivered at the recollection of those wild, desperate eyes. "You never saw him. Desmond. He… he was scared, more scared than I think I've ever seen anyone. And trust me, I've seen scared. I think that's why I took him seriously… sort of."

Sayid pondered this, taking her impression seriously, but he still disagreed. "No, I did not see him, but from the scattered bits of the story I've heard, it is clear to me that a man who lives alone in a bunker and presses a button every 108 minutes for a reason he does not comprehend cannot have ever slept a sufficient amount to retain his sanity."

"Hmm," she murmured, seeing his point, but still too haunted by Desmond's behavior to quite agree. "Speaking of which, do you want to watch the video Locke mentioned? I don't know how much more we can learn in here, and maybe it says something more about this place."

"That's a good idea. Afterwards, I'm gong to try to break through that strange-looking wall I passed when we came in."

On their way out, Kate and Sayid got a glimpse of Jack, Locke, and Hurley arguing about guns and gravy in the weapons room. Kate had an idea.

"Wait a sec," she whispered, and changed her direction. Once in the pantry, she grabbed the bag of popcorn she remembered seeing, a big jug of room-temperature soda, and two glasses. Holding the bag between her teeth and hoping the others didn't see her, she met Sayid in the living room and shut the door behind her.

Sayid laughed when he saw what she had. "Is this film long enough to warrant snacks?"

"I don't know, but when else are we going to get to 'go to the movies'? We might as well milk it." Kate ripped open the bag of popcorn and poured them some juice.

He pressed play, and white light appeared on the screen before the movie started. Kate and Sayid both collapsed into the couch. It was easily the most comfortable place either of them had been in since landing on the island. Between the couch and the juice, their sensual moans and groans of pleasure echoed through the room.

"That was loud," Sayid said slowly and with the best kind of embarrassment. A kind of everyday contentment that Kate had never seen before suffused his face.

"See, the hatch isn't so bad, is it?"

"I may have to reevaluate my position on it, yes," he said, taking a handful of popcorn. The film began.

It was shorter and less of a cinematic experience than Kate had hoped, full of disjointed images and interrupted warnings. When it ended, she and Sayid exchanged glances.

"Did… did you notice the polar bears?" she asked tentatively, not sure what to make of it all.

He nodded. "I did. But I was distracted by the disturbing warnings about incidents and electromagnets."

"What do you think it all means?"

"It is too vague and unconvincing to form an opinion." Sayid stood up. "I'm going to see what lies behind that wall in the hallway."

"So you still won't push it?" Kate asked, loath to get out of her seat.

"No."


End file.
